The World Poker Tour's Festa al Lago Championship event begins Wednesday (10/21) at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino, where once again some of the best players in the game will convene to take a shot at what is normally a million dollar plus grand prize.

Last year's Festa al Lago Championship actually awarded its winner $1,411,015, thanks to 368 players dropping $15,000 each- the same stiff buy-in as this year's event.

The winner of that prize in 2008 was poker monster Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, who also happened to be the one who knocked out PokerRoad's own Joe Sebok, for yet another top ten cash without making the final table.  Joe's King-Nine off-suit knock out hand against ElkY, ended up being highly controversial and was discussed in painful, often negative detail, on the PokerRoad Red Pro Forums- where only top pros with significant results can share their opinions.

So does Joe want Festa al Lago payback after such humiliation?  One would certainly think he would and according to tweets found on the PokerRoad Nation, he's already back in Vegas and gearing up for not only another championship run, but also to bring PokerRoad Radio listeners along for the ride, as he joins hundreds of other top players for what is always one of the World Poker Tour's most exciting tournaments of the year.

For news, blogs, tweets, videos and podcasts straight from the Bellagio, stick with us here at PokerRoad.com from October 21st through the 26th, for the WPT Festa al Lago Championship.


Story by Mark Anderson